The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal organization founded in the 1800s, in part as a mockery of other societies of the day. The way music artists today consider they’ve “made it” when Weird Al parodies their songs, being lampooned by the Order of E Clampus has evolved into a badge of honor.

There’s a method to the madness of these self-described “Clampers,” who also are dedicated to the study and preservation of the heritage of the American West. The group itself says it’s not sure if it’s a “historical drinking society” or a “drinking historical society.”

Whatever they’re drinking, the Lander-based Wyoming chapter of the organization — South Pass 1867 — will do something entirely serious Saturday when it dedicates the cemetery at the historic ghost town of Gebo. Many of those graves hold children who died in the coal mining town.

While dedicated to rejecting rational thought, the Clampers’ mission to preserve history is a serious one, said local Vice President Ben Jackson.

“We really want to highlight and preserve to the best of our ability the sites of historical significance throughout the state of Wyoming,” Jackson said. “In this way, no matter what the condition of the sites may be as the years progress, there’s at least some type of marker that talks about what happened at these sites.”

The ’67ers, as they call themselves, do not want future generations to forget what the hard-working men and women went through in Wyoming’s early decades.

When people visit sites the society dedicates, the plaques highlight the trials and tribulations these early pioneers endured and overcome, such as the people of the coal mining town of Gebo.

Gebo, A Distant Memory

Gebo was once a thriving coal camp in the sagebrush with more than 2,000 miners and their families.

Located north of Thermopolis, this town was built by the Owl Creek Coal Co., and its heyday was in the 1910s and 1920s. It had a hospital, the largest high school in the region, a tennis court, company store, boarding houses, paved streets, sidewalks and company housing.

The coal miners formed bands, baseball teams and held boxing matches. Its popular Labor Day celebrations were attended by thousands of people from around the Big Horn Basin.

As the coal mines closed, the miners and their families scattered across America. Some found work in mines in other states such as Virginia while others couldn’t bear to leave Wyoming.

They moved their families into neighboring towns of Lucerne, Worland and Thermopolis. The company homes were sold and moved out of Gebo, the mines closed up and only a handful of families remained until the last person moved out in the 1980s.

In the 1970s, the BLM bulldozed the remaining abandoned buildings, leaving behind foundations, relics of the mine and a small cemetery.

E Clampus Vitus will host its public dedication at this cemetery. Many of the small graves holding children have captured their imagination and hearts.

“You go out there and you look at these headstones and you see these infants that died very close to the day they were born,” Jackson said. “It makes you wonder, ‘My God, what happened to these babies?’ Then you find out that it was either the Spanish flu or the diphtheria that ran through there like wildfire, and there’s nothing out there that talks about that. Their story will be lost if we don’t do something.”

When Jackson first proposed the site as an E Clampus project, many of the members, most based in Fremont County, had not even heard of Gebo. He took them to the deserted mining town in March and showed them around.

Once they stepped back into time, touring the sage and hills that once teemed with people, the members didn’t need any more convincing. The Clampers were determined to put up a marker in memory of the town and the people who once eked out their livings underground.

Remember All Of Wyoming

It’s part of the Wyoming chapter’s goal to branch out to put up markers around the state.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work up in the South Pass and Atlantic City area,” Jackson said. “But now we’re looking to branch out into other areas of the state. Next year, we are planning on dedicating the Irma Hotel at Cody.”

The chapter also wants to expand membership and open new chapters throughout the Cowboy State. The goal is to continue preserving the history of Wyoming.

“We were originally started by miners for miners and to take care of the widows and orphans of miners that died in the mines, whether it be the gold mines or the coal mines,” Jackson said. “Obviously, that has gone by the wayside. We are now a fraternal order that’s dedicated to the preservation of sites of historical significance that is predominantly centered around the Gold Rush era.”

E Clampus Vitus was founded in the 1800s in West Virginia and brought to California during the Gold Rush. It exploded in the mining camps and brought levity into the lives of those hard-working miners.

“It was started by miners who couldn’t get into the other fraternal orders of the day such as the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows due to their social status,” Jackson said. “Those guys would look down their noses at the miners due to their rowdy nature. So, the minors wanted to start their own order and social club, if you will. E Clampus Vitus was born out of that, and they had a lot of fun with it.”

The miners would mock the other orders by making up strange rules and over-exaggerating their traditions. Members of this new society of fun-loving miners had been known to pull such antics as pinning can lids to their vests and walking in town parades.

They would march alongside the other societies that would be decked out in all their fancy regalia.

In an ironic twist, as the order became more popular, the movers and shakers of the 1800s decided to join to get the votes of the miners. E Clampus Vitus grew to include governors, doctors, lawyers and senators. Famous Clampers include Ronald Reagan and Samuel Clemens.

“Mark Twain actually heard of the famous frog jump of Calaveras County at a ECV meeting,” Jackson said. “There’s just a lot of history and accomplishments in our society. Another example is that the first mention of the gold strike in California was from a telegram written by a brother clamper.”

As Jackson and his fellow clampers continue to preserve Wyoming’s history, you can bet they will be doing it with a smile and lots of humor.

The public presentation of the Gebo coal camp new marker begins at 11a.m. Saturday at the Gebo Cemetery.

To reach the ghost town and cemetery, drive south from Worland or north from Thermopolis on U.S. Highway 20 until you hit the town of Kirby.

Turn west onto Sand Draw Road (Hot Springs County Road 18). When you hit a Y in the road after about 1.3 miles, bear left onto Hot Springs County Road 30.

Continue for another 1.3 miles until you hit the cemetery.

Contact Jackie Dorothy at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com

Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.

A single-engine Pilatus PC-12/47E turboprop airplane that crashed Friday afternoon in northeast Wyoming, killing all seven onboard, reported an equipment malfunction consistent with problems that model of aircraft is known to have, says a longtime pilot and crash investigator.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said in a Saturday statement that preliminary information shows the plane went down after reporting an “autopilot issue during flight.”

The plane left Nebraska about midday Friday and was bound for Billings, Montana. It crashed about 1 p.m. near the Montana border in northern Campbell County.

Among those killed were three members of the Gospel Hall of Fame group The Nelons — co-founder Kelly Nelon Clark and husband Jason Clark, and daughter Amber Nelon Kistler. Also killed were Nathan Kistler, Melodi Hodges and Larry and Melissa Haynie.

That the plane reported an autopilot issue, along with violent pitching up and down before plummeting from an altitude of 26,000 feet, doesn’t surprise Dan Gryder, a pilot who investigates aircraft incidents and crashes. He reports his findings on his popular YouTube channel.

He told Cowboy State Daily he doesn’t know the exact cause of the crash, but based on the information the plane relayed before it went down, reported by Flight Aware, frantic whipping up and down at 300 mph would have caused the plane to break apart.

“Like, when you stick your hand out going down the road,” said Gryder, describing the air’s effect. “It forces your hand up with a lot of force.”

NTSB investigators are on site and will issue a preliminary report in about two weeks, according to agency protocol.

“The aircraft is in a remote location, and once (investigators) gain access, they will begin documenting the scene, examining the aircraft,” Holloway said in the Saturday statement. “The aircraft will then be recovered and taken to a secure facility for further evaluation.”

A Domino Effect

The force the plane could have been under could have started what Gryder called a domino effect of parts breaking off the plane, then more breakage.

Campbell County law enforcement scanner communications Friday afternoon responding to the crash attested to this as well. One agent noted finding plane parts in a larger perimeter than one would expect from just the impact of a crash.

The plane must have been breaking apart while still airborne, the agent said.

Photos of debris scattered over the area published by the Gillette News Record also seem to corroborate Gryder’s hypothesis.

Something may have gone wrong with the autopilot system just before the crash, said Gryder.

The Pilatus is a good plane, he said, but any one of four or five other companies could have manufactured the autopilot system, and he said he does not know which one built the one on this particular plane.

The autopilot is hooked to the elevator pitch trim servo, which moves a tiny tab that controls pitch — especially at high speeds, he said.

That tab can have an “absolutely huge” effect on the plane’s position. Gryder likened it to the power of the nation’s top executive.

“It’s amazing to me that the president of the United States can have that much power, but he does,” he said.

Once the plane starts to break apart, “you’re done,” he said. There’s no way to reverse the inevitable crash at that point.

The fall would have unfolded over about two violent minutes, and Gryder said it’s his opinion everyone on board would have been alive to experience it until impact.

Jet Fuel

The plane had fueled up in Nebraska shortly before flying over Wyoming. It was probably carrying around 300 gallons of jet fuel when it approached the Wyoming-Montana border, Gryder said.

The jet fuel crashing down into Wyoming’s sage lands helped spark a large fire that Campbell County authorities fought both via air and from the ground.

Firefighters were combatting the last smolders Saturday, the agency reported.

The Race Is Run

The Gaither Management Group, which handles The Nelons, acknowledged the deaths of the members in a statement late Friday.

“One of the best loved Gospel music families in America, The Nelons, were involved in a tragic, fatal plane crash on Friday afternoon on their way to join the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska,” the statement reads.

Autumn Nelon Streetman, the youngest daughter of Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark, was not on the plane and confirmed their identities in a separate statement.

“Thank you for the prayers that have been extended already to me, my husband, Jamie, and our soon-to-be-born baby boy, as well as Jason’s parents, Dan and Linda Clark,” her statement reads. “We appreciate your continued prayers, love and support as we navigate the coming days.”

The Nelons performed vocally powerful ballads and pop-bluegrass worship songs. Their YouTube profile features such works as a soulful cover of Casting Crowns song “The Only Scars In Heaven” — a song about looking forward to an eternity with loved ones in heaven.

They covered the popular Christian version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in a campfire-side film featuring layered harmonies, and they tackled the folk classic “Gentle On My Mind” with a banjo.

The Nelons have won 10 Gospel Music Association Awards and was inducted into the GMA Hall of Fame in 2016.

Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.